I believe that the universe, that big G God, conspires to bring us exactly who and what we need, exactly when we need it.

You see it all over Ally and Clay’s story. The pair who met by happenstance at a folk music festival. Who decided to trust fall into the open arms of each other’s lives. Who couldn’t have know that their meeting would lead to a lifetime of adventure. Together. Sailing for months together down the Inter-coastal Waterway from Virginia to Florida in a boat they had fixed up themselves. Together. Moving to Costa Rica to renovate a dilapidated beach front hotel. Together. Purchasing a raw piece of land and building their dream home, piece by piece, with their own hands. Together. At just the right times and in just the right places, Clay and Ally have trusted each other to dive in deep, heart first.

Because where’s the magic in living life any other way? So when Ally mentioned that she really wanted to create some whimsical, magical, mountain top memories of her and Clay’s engagement season, there was only one option. Of course we were going to climb to the best mountain top views that Virginia has to offer.

We hiked and shared life and shared stories and shared snacks, and I quickly became enamored with this incredible duo. To them, everything is a possibility, whether it is conquering the unknown on the ocean or building a sustainable home that embodies their love for the land. Ally and Clay have the sageness of a couple who has lived 12 lifetimes together and the joyful fun of a pair who has only known each other for two weeks. I’m better for knowing them, and I have a hunch that you will be enchanted by their sweet love, too.

Somewhere on the list of The Top Five Things You Should Probably Know About Steph Dee is this: I. freaking. love. surprises.

Getting surprised, giving surprises, I don’t care as long as there is some joyful secret involved. As a kid, I knew where my mom hid all of our Christmas presents (in the same room as all of our gift wrap supplies, so, not too sneaky there) and I would intentionally avert my eyes and avoid the temptation of snooping just so I could save the thrill for Christmas morning. And I’m not one to discriminate on size or scope of the surprise, either. Sending a gift to a friend for no reason at all? I’m in. Coming home after a long day of traveling to a bag of Chipotle and a note with a smiley face that says, “Thought you might be hungry.” SAH-WOON. Conspiring with a future bride to surprise her fiancée with a celebratory engagement session? YES PLEASE!

So, between her read hair (Team Ginger!) and her affinity for showering her fiancée, Kierstin, with adoration and surprises, I knew that A.C. and I were going to get along just fine.

A.C.’s very first email was brimming with sweetness and tipped me off to just how much joy was going to fill my lens when we finally met that breezy July morning. Kierstin had just taken the final bar exam, and with her birthday a few weeks later, she and A.C. (who is also a lawyer!) decided to make the trip to D.C. from Nashville for a little celebratory weekend. And as a special gift, A.C. was planning this session unbeknownst to Kierstin. She got her gussied up and out the door that morning with no hints save for a disposable camera in hand. I could see the excitement on Kierstin’s face as she stepped out of the car, excitement that only magnified as A.C. pointed to me and explained what the plan was for the next hour!

We wandered all around the beautiful Supreme Court exterior in a setting perfect for two powerhouse lawyers, and I couldn’t stop smiling the entire shoot with the pure joie de vivre that these two have around each other.

Enjoy a few of my favorites of this stylish duo! And Kierstin and A.C., whenever you find yourself back in D.C., I hope we get to do this all over again! <3

Let’s go back in time to taste some magic—some Sammy and Varun magic—shall we?

It was a Tuesday morning in October of 2016, and we’d just wrapped shooting one unfairly beautiful engagement session in the middle of a perfect Washington D.C. sunrise. As we walked back towards our cars, I asked S+V about their plans for the upcoming holidays since their wedding was in April and I likely wouldn’t get to see them over the winter months. Sammy shared their plans for Halloween. Plans for Thanksgiving. Plans for their wedding in India. Plans for Christma—

“I’m sorry. Did you just say you’re having an Indian wedding… in INDIA?!”

How, in all of the excited sharing of plans, had I missed this wild detail? Varun excitedly shared with me how he promised his family—many of whom still live in New Delhi—that he would celebrate his marriage with them halfway across the world with a three-day celebration. Sammy exclaimed that it would be her first time visiting India and that she had no idea what she was in for, but she was ready for a wild ride.

Jokingly and with a hefty dose of side-eye, I asked what I figured what the most important question. “So, do you guys have a, uh, photographer booked yet for this Indian wedding?”

Sammy looked at me hesitantly. “Well, actually, we’ve been wanting to ask you but just figured you wouldn’t.”

I stopped in my tracks. “No way. If you are joking then this is the cruelest trick that anyone has ever played!”

But Sammy and Varun weren’t joking. And two months later I was in the air, en route to New Delhi to photograph my very first destination wedding. IN INDIA.

—

India is an assault on all five senses. The smells might hit you first, and the range is broad: one second the savory scent of street food (that you’re too wise to indulge in) makes your mouth water helplessly and the very next you’ll catch a heavy wif of the less pleasant smells that tend to exist around immense poverty. Your ears are constantly occupied with the honking of endless traffic mixed with Baliwood music and birdsong at sunset. Meanwhile, the brightest, most beautiful colors you’ve ever seen swirl together in a palette of fabrics, gem stones, shoes, vegetables, mosaics, paintings and tapestries. Your eyeballs are filled to the brim while your hands are distracted by the impossible smoothness of centuries-old marble work. AND THE FOOD. Every bite of every meal is flavorful and delicious, though once in awhile a little too much green chili may or may not leave you with tears in your eyes. India is a places that is, in a word or two, absolutely overwhelming. In two more words: uniquely beautiful.

And these descriptors can be applied to almost any aspect of Indian culture, including marriages. The wedding festivities began with the informal but intimate pooja ceremony, where Sammy and Varun were surrounded in their family’s home and prayed over. My dear friend (and second shooter for the adventure) Amy and I walked through the door and immediately felt as though we’d been adopted by this sweet, eccentric family. To be welcomed so warmly into such a sacred space was an unrivaled experience.

Indian weddings are remarkable in the way that each piece of the celebration is both sacred and entirely participatory. On the second day, Sammy and Varun experienced the haldi, a ceremony where the bride and groom are painted in Tumeric paste by their families until they are entirely covered in the yellow hue. Each family member steps forward and prays a blessing over the couple as they dab their face, hands, and feet with golden dots. As I shot away, I was brought to tears more than once. I laughed from my belly more than once. Imagine an American wedding ceremony, but instead of the rules and etiquette that prevent you from interacting with this pair of humans who you love, you were encouraged, even expected, to step forward in front of this couple’s tribe and speak your hope and love for them out loud. It was like nothing I’d ever experienced.

And so was the party. The day before the official ceremony, Indian weddings have a sort of party-before-the-party, the sangeet. Between the kaleidoscope of colorful saris, the scent of indian spices, flashing lights on a jam-packed dance floor and marigolds covering every inch of the room, S+V’s sangeet was a literal feast for the eyes and soul. Your girl may have even taken a few turns on the dance floor, twisting some light bulbs!

Finally, on the third day and after so much preparation and celebration, came the official Hindi marriage ceremony, which somehow managed to pack in even more joy, music, color, and celebration than the first two days combined. As is tradition, Varun made his way to Sammy in the barat, a sort of parade where the groom rides to the bride before her parents receive his. The barat is a party in and of itself. Loud drums, dancing, and cheering surrounded Varun—who looked like an Indian prince riding in a horse-drawn carriage. The groom arrives to the bride’s home (or in this case a lovely New Delhi venue), where the ceremony begins, another beautiful and sacred but interactive moment. Sammy and Varun walked around a fire seven times, the Saptapadi, to represent the seven promises they make to each other, as their family literally showered them with love in the form of flower petals. It was the perfect culmination of a heart-full weekend celebrating the two bright souls of Sammy and Varun coming together.

—

I don’t know the proper words to thank Sammy and Varun, who I now consider dear friends, for giving me the opportunity to travel half way around the world to document their love story. It’s a gift I don’t deserve and one for which I will be forever grateful. Because of this phenomenal pair, I got to explore a piece of the globe I didn’t dream of seeing for years and years. I left India with a spinning head and a full heart, so excited that this wasn’t even close to the final chapter of S+V’s love story.

I have already written too much, and ahead I have too many images to share with you, but how on earth am I supposed to be concise when sharing about such an extraordinary adventure and such a radiant celebration? I don’t think I am supposed to. So, let me just say…

Introducing (for the first time): Mr. and Mrs. Pande

Day One: the PoojaDay two: the Haldi and Sangeet

(Varun’s parents had these incredible bitmoji shirts created for all of their guests!)Day three: the Barat and Hindi ceremony

Endless gratitude to you, Sammy and Varun, for the experience of a lifetime. And special, infinite thanks to the incomparable Amy Gray, my talented friend and right hand woman throughout the entire trip. Without her, this trip would have been nearly impossible and infinitely less fun.